Monday, January 15, 2007

Menu Plan Monday, Reminder and Mullings



To see more menus and recipes or to link your own, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie. Laura is always so inspiring as she teaches us how to have a little more organization in your life. One of my goals for this year was to participate in this on a consistent basis because when I was doing it I found it to be way easier than flying by the seat of my pants trying to think of what to have for supper. And the thing I like about it, it's a general outline, not set in stone, so that if something comes up, like it did for me last week, I can just bump that meal to the next week. But I know I'll have the ingrediants, and it will take care of one day into the next week. So without futher ado:



Monday: Shalee and Laura's Beloved Hubby's favorite dish: Pork & Brussel Sprouts over linguine (carried over from last week)



Tuesday:
Crockpot Bean Soup with Ham (will post recipe of Slow Cooker Thursday), Cheese Toast



Wednesday:
Chicken Enchiladas, carrot sticks



Thursday:
Perogies, tossed salad



Friday:
smokies, buns, home fries (from Christine at Fruit in Season)



Saturday:
raid the fridge Saturday



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A reminder that this is happening tomorrow. For more information click on the button in the sidebar to head to Boomama's who is oranizing this wonderful ministry.


Or you if you'd rather, you can check out Susie at Bluebird Blogs for her special deal that runs from January 11 - January 21 when you order a design from her.

With either one of these options you will be helping out a fellow blogger, Kelli, who is very much in need of helping hand right now. By participating we can be a part of Kelli recieving the gift of life by way of a kidney transplant.

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The last Word for the Weekend has been really been mulling around in my heart since I posted it. The scripture actually came to me when I left it in response to a friends post on Friday. I have not got it out of my mind since.

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no
compassion the the child she has borne?Though she may forget, I WILL NEVER
FORGET YOU! See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; you walls are
ever before me." Isaiah 49:15-16 NIV

My mind has a hard time understanding the awesomeness of God. He draws a parallel here of a mother and nursing child and the incredible force of parental love a mother feels towards that child. It is very rare that a mother can forget about a child she has brought into the world. But in our humanness and fallen state in today's world on the rare occasion it does happen. Yet God says that will never happen with Him. If we are His children, we can depend upon Him.

We are written or engraved upon His palm. This is incredible to me for a couple of reasons. First of all if something is engraved, it is etched right into the material. It does not just sit on top and therefore can be rubbed off, it is right inside and permanent. The amplified bible says it like this:

"Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tatooed) a picture of
you on the palm of each of My hands."

Indelibly imprinted or tatooed. If any of us has a child who has gotten ahold of an indelible marker and colored on something they shouldn't have you know, no matter what solution you try to use to get rid of it, it never totally goes away. It is absorbed into the material it is put upon. And if you have gotten a tatoo it will be there forever. Even if you try to have it removed with today's laser technology there will still be signs that you had a tatoo in that spot. It is there forever. How incredible that we are in God's hands forever. To me that is pretty profound.

The second thing that has really been going over in my heart is the fact that God said we were engraved in His Hands. Of any part of my body, my hands is probably the part that my eyes land upon the most. Think of it. No matter what you do you most likely look down at your hands to do it. We are continually before God's eyes by being engraved upon His hands. That is so awesome to me I find it hard to even put into words how that makes me feel. Loved, protected, affection is usually shown with the hands, secure are just a few of the words & feelings my mind can't even sort out.

Do you know you are in His Hands if you are His child? No matter what you are going through on this earth you can rest in the fact that God has that fierce parental love for you and that you are indelibly in His hands and continuously before His eyes. Do you desire to know this love, this comfort of being forever in God's hands. It doesn't take works on your part. You do not have to become better, different, or work to obtain being His child. For you see, it is a free gift from God. Given to us through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus.


"But when the right time came God sent His Son who was born
of a woman and lived under the law. God did this so he could buy freedom
for those who were under the law
and so we could become His
children."

Galations 4 : 4 - 5

I encourage you today to know God as your Father and have that assurance that you are written forever into His hands.









17 comments:

Chris @ Come to the Table said...

Susanne,
What a beautiful picture you have painted of His love for us. I need to meditate on these thoughts. "As mothers we never think we will forget this child and yet God promises, although we may forget He never will."
What love! What hope we have in this life!
Blessings on your day!

Sandra said...

Great menu Susanne, you're the second person I've seen having pierogies and chicken enchiladas....YUMMO!!!

You know far too often I seem to forget that parental love that God has for us, thank you for reminding me, I truly needed to hear that today.

Huge hugs to you my friend,
Sandra

Heather Smith said...

Yummy sounding menu, Susanne!
I'll have to hop over to Boomama's to see what I can do to help Kelli!
Great devotional thought, Susanne. I've always loved this verse and you've brought it out in a new and powerful light! Thanks for sharing!

Beck said...

Susanne, that post gave me chills! It just filled my heart right up - THANK YOU. You are such a talented writer!

Much Ado said...

Susanne, I love the way you have expanded on these verses and thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, you have blessed me today.

Melanie @ This Ain't New York said...

I saw this the other day, but after reading this post, I think of these things...

We are engraved upon His Hands because He holds us.

Our palm prints and fingerprints are unique. God is Unique as He is the only path to salvation. Our relationship with Him is unique and special.

Thanks for some wonderful thoughts of Him today!

Barb said...

A beautiful devotional, Susanne. As I sit here typing this, I know for sure that from now on when I look at my own hands, I'll remember what you said here today.

Tomorrow's the big day! I'm so excited about this. Can't wait to see the results.

I think we're going to see wonderful things in Kelli's immediate future.

Anonymous said...

What a truely wonderful God we serve
thanks for sharing that with us
I love the way he loves us so unconditionally

Kim said...

This was beautiful,Susanne! I love the hope you have so beautifully displayed with your gracious words. I pray someone who needs to hear this reads it and is open to God's love....undeserved,but always there.

Also,your menu sounds great! I LOVE chicken enchiladas! I'm going to make those soon,too....you've made me hungry for them!

Kim

Laura said...

There are those darn brussel sprouts again...I gag just typing the words...lol....otherwise great menu!!!

You wrote a very moving devotional my friend....very very beautiful.

Laura

Unknown said...

Read about fundraiser on Organizing Junkie's Blog. It's so beautiful how the blogger community is supportive.

Cyndi said...

"First of all if something is engraved, it is etched right into the material. It does not just sit on top and therefore can be rubbed off, it is right inside and permanent."

Wow, I love thinking about that. Thank you so much for the reminder. Jesus has the scars in His, the Father has us "indelibly etched" in His. What a powerful thought.

Oh, and I've tagged you for a meme! Have a blessed week!

:)

Shawna said...

That is beautiful. Thanks for reminding me of this verse & explaining it so wonderfully.

rena said...

bmpWhat a wonderful thought, that we are tatooed on His hands. Wonderful post. and A big AMEN!

Tammy said...

Susanne, this is powerful. I know God used you in this post.
That verse means SO much to me...

Eden said...

Awesome menu, Susanne. Everything sounds yummy! I'm behind on participating in everything these last 2 weeks. I'm hoping to catch up starting Sunday.
Thank you for reminding me about the beautiful parental love our Saviour has for us.
Thank you for the links to help Kelli.

Shalee said...

Keep your stinkin' BS away from my name! Ugh.

As to the rest of your post, bravo! I was just reading through Genesis this morning and I was reminded again and again how God kept reminding Abram that HE was with him and that HE would protect him.

Such a glorious weight to release from our shoulders to know that the same God who created everything is still active and alive and fulfilling his promises even now, thousands of years after they have been made.